Might as well start a new thread for this one as no doubt people will have plenty to say on it.

My predictions - England will reach the last 16, whichever keeper plays will make an absolute howler at some stage ( probably when it matters ), Sterling will run up his own backside, Henderson will have the best stats for sideways and back passes, our central defenders won't be able to cope with a bit of sharp clever movement and Southgate will look 5 years older by the time he gets home.

I hope I'm wrong, but I just don't see this group of players achieving much so I suppose it will be all about building for the 2026 World Cup.

As a positive though I expect Trent - Alexander to come back a World star and our right back for the next 10 years.

Personally think England will make last 8 . There is no pressure on this squad the media haven't hyped up our chances and the squad looks close knit which is a first for many years. There is some decent talent in squad and if Kane Rashford Vardy find their goal scoring boots then last 8 should be realistic. Like Guv don't think Henderson should be anywhere near squad. Kicking off team selection . But land , Maguire, Stones, Walker. Midfield: Trippier, Loftuscheek, Lingard, Dier, Rose , Kane Rashford. Use Vardy Ali and Sterling with 30 mins left pace when defenders getting tired. Come on England play without fear and show what you can do.

I'm looking forward to seeing an England team play at a tournament more than I have in recent times. There are some good, enthusiastic young lads to get behind instead of the tired old faces being shoehorned into the team any which way whatever rubbish manager we had previously could.

I'm not a massive fan of Henderson but I'm not a massive fan of Dier either. They both have their good and bad points. Dier wasn't great v Nigeria the other day. The ball kept bouncing off him. He's usually better than that though. I'm not fussed which one plays as long as only ONE does which I think will be the case.

My only worry is when things go wrong will Southgate have the nous to know when and how to change things. He'll be ok with the line up as long as things are going well.Maybe this will be the tournament where he grows into a decent manager. As Shankly said never judge a player by how he plays when he's in a team doing well. Judge him when the chips are down. You can apply the same to a manager as well.

Sterling is ok as long as you're playing a team that gives you that 15 yards of space between midfield and attack. He can run at teams then even though his end product is often poor. I'd rather go with Rashford. He can run at teams as well as have more composure when under pressure from teams who compact that space. I think Sterling will start the tournament but Rashford will finish it. We will see.

Good to see a healthy smattering of black and brown faces in the squad. Hopefully it gets the backs up of the resident Brexiteers on here.

Football is (generally) all about now and one thing that irritates me is the abdication of responsibility for present shortcomings and assurances that all will be alright 2-4 years down the line. A number of our present players are at their 'peak' and I can't see them being any better in the future. Some of the younger ones of course will hopefully improve. Others will simply plateau out and fail to live up to their hype or potential. I actually think we will make the last 8 of which could be considered a decent achievement for this set of players. The main positives are that the manager hasn't actually done a lot wrong so far. He's dealt with the two obvious long term issues in binning Rooney and Hart. No brainers to drop them for any competent human but seemingly sacrilege for some in the footballing industry. Whether Southgate will set the World on fire is open to debate but so far he's done alright in my book. So far there hasn't been the usual distracting roadshow of players acting up or the gross narcissism of the WAGS so that's probably a good thing.

Do think though that our undoing will be the centre of defence. Stones and Cahill are accidents waiting to happen and struggle to do the basics. Only that other bloke, Maguire inspires me with any confidence. Midfield is a little flat looking too and we all know someone like Dele Alli will let the nation down with a needless red. Probably in the Quarter Finals just as we are getting into the game. As for Sterling, yes he could be a match winner but I don't think at International level he's improved from his embarrassing performances in Euro 2016.

Overall though, I do think people are behind this set of players more than the previous show ponies. If Southgate gets his team selection right from the off then this team could surprise a few people. Hopefully, he won't wait until his job and our qualification is on the line before making the obvious changes.

The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it.

A Mickey Mouse (literally) football nation like the USA get the World Cup twice in my lifetime. England still waiting.

How can countries like this prosper and get results. They are sovereign nations and not part of a political union. I thought the latter was the be all and end all of being a country able to get results. Sorry....couldn't help it

Surely 3 decent places to host a tournament though??? Far better than some of the other nations being mooted. I don't think we'll be getting it for a long time to be honest. We've lost that entrepreneurial spirit.

The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it.

2026 will be a 48 team World Cup. 16 groups of 3 leading to 5 knockout rounds. Teams playing last of the group games will know what to do get both teams through. And goalless groups presumably decided by lottery. Lots to look forward to, or not.